Cervical Chordoma in Two Ferrets (Mustela putorius furo)

Abstract

Chord oma in human beings is an uncommon neopl asm arising from remnants o f the not ochord .' ? It has also been report ed in seve ral animal spec ies, including th e rat ,' 2.,. cat,' dog," m in k," and ferrc t. t-"'? In human being s, cho rdo mas arise pred om inantl y in the sacrococcygeal and sphenooccipita l areas ! In ferr ets, all repo rted cases have been seen at or near the ta il tip .1.6. ' 0 T he purpose of thi s pap er is to describe chordo mas arising in th e cervical spina l region of two ferrets.Case No. I was a 5-yea r-o ld male cas tra ted pet alb ino ferr et with a 4-mo nth history of atax ia in the hind legs th at progressed to pare sis and loss o f propriocepti on. Ov er thi s period, the animal experienced a 25% loss o f bod y weight. At necropsy, th e animal a ppea red mod erat ely cachectic, with m inimal subcutaneo us and intra-abdominal fat stores. Th ere was mild generalized mu scular atro phy, most prominent bilater ally over th e hind limbs. U po n disarticulation o f the atlantoocci pita l joint, a so ft, whitis h gray 1.5-x 1.0-cm amorpho us mass spa nni ng th e artic ular space and th at invo lved th e artic ular facets and exte nded into both the foramen ma gnum and th e verte bra l ca na l of C , and C, was noticed . Addi tiona l gro ss findings in th is ani ma l included moderat e right ventricular dil ati on , hepat ic co ngestion, and spondylosis of th e lumbar spine .Micro scopi c exa mi nation o f sections from th e cervi cal ar ea revealed an infiltrati ve, multilobul at ed ma ss replacing portions of th e vertebral bod y and lamina of C , (F ig. l ) and the ve ntral porti on of the occ ipita l bon e surro undi ng the foram en magnum. Lobules had three com ponents: closely packed vacuolat ed polygon al cells (physa lifero us cells), cartilage, an d bo ne. T he ph ysaliferou s cells were suppo rted by a mu cinou s stro ma o f variable thickness th at blended grad ually with mature carti lage and bone; th e bon e co ntai ned marrow eleme nts. The three co m po nents were frequently arra nged co nce ntr ically within neoplastic lobul es, with ph ysaliferous cells surrounding carti lage with a central core of bon e. Physaliferous cells co nta ined abundant am pho philic foam y cytoplasm and ro und to ova l nucl ei (Fig. 2). Mit oses were rar ely seen. At th e periphery ofl obules, ther e were sma ller, irr egularl y ro und cells with sca nt eos ino philic cyto plasm and simi lar nu clei. T he neopl asm mildl y co m presse d th e sp ina l cor d, and swo l-[en, eosinophilic axo na l rem na nts (spheroi ds) were presen t in sma ll numbers th rou ghout the ventral and lat eral fun iculi. Th e mat rix surro unding the ph ysaliferou s cells stai ned stro ngly for glycosa m inoglyca ns, indi cat ing its cartilagino us nature.Immunohi sto chemi call y, physaliferou s cells conta ined cytok eratin and vime ntin interm ed iat e filame nts but sho wed weak S-I00 prot ein and neu ron-specific eno lase reacti on s.Case No . 2 was a 4-year-old male sab le ferret that initia lly presented wi...

Pericardial Mesothelioma in a Yellow-naped Amazon Parrot (Amazona auropalliata)

“…11 The etiology of mesothelioma in other species is unknown and considered spontaneous. 12 Spontaneous, or idiopathic, mesotheliomas have been documented in many species. 12,13 Spontaneous mesotheliomas are rarely reported in birds but have been diagnosed in chickens, a pheasant, a pigeon (Columba livia), and a ferruginous hawk (Buteo regalis).…”

Chordomas at High Prevalence in the Captive Population of the Endangered Perdido Key Beach Mouse (Peromyscus polionotus trissyllepsis)

“…Ferret chordomas most often form as grossly visible masses caudal to the last vertebra, at the tip of the tail, or rarely in the cervical region. 12,39 There is only 1 report of a ferret developing a chordoma in the thoracic region. 27 Although tails were not evaluated histologically in this study, tail masses were not noted grossly.…”

Cervical chordoma in a domestic ferret (Mustela putorius furo) with pulmonary metastasis

“…7 Chordomas are the most common musculoskeletal neoplasm in ferrets, 2 but are rare in humans and other animals. 1,6,9,17 In ferrets, chordomas occur most commonly at the tip of the tail, 2 but they have also been reported in the cervical region in 2 previous cases 8,18 and the thoracic vertebrae in 1 case. 14 In humans, there are 3 recognized subtypes of chordoma: classic chordoma, chondroid chordoma, and chordoma with malignant spindle cell component (dedifferentiated).…”

“…14 In humans, there are 3 recognized subtypes of chordoma: classic chordoma, chondroid chordoma, and chordoma with malignant spindle cell component (dedifferentiated). 7,13,18 It has been suggested that ferret chordomas may act as an animal model for the chondroid subtype of human chordoma. 7,18 Differentiation between classic and chondroid subtypes in humans is significant, as chondroid chordomas are associated with a survival rate 3 times greater than that of classic chordomas.…”

“…7,13,18 It has been suggested that ferret chordomas may act as an animal model for the chondroid subtype of human chordoma. 7,18 Differentiation between classic and chondroid subtypes in humans is significant, as chondroid chordomas are associated with a survival rate 3 times greater than that of classic chordomas. 3,11 Chordomas in humans have usually been considered benign or as a neoplasm with low risks due to their slowgrowing character and rarity of distant metastasis 17 ; however, a study from 2012 shows that they can exhibit more aggressive behavior such as local infiltration and damage of surrounding structures, recurrence, and metastasis.…”